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I listened as casual acquaintances approached me last week and made fun on Bush's "leadership" on climate change: voluntary measures, soft "aspirational" goals, and R&D money for technology. Yawn..... And Rice has the audacity to say that the US is ready to assume world leadership on climate change....what universe does she live in???Here's the world view from Worldwatch:

Reflections on Climate Week and The Path Forward

By Janet L. Sawin

Created Oct 2 2007 - 12:25pm

Last week’s climate talks started with a bang and ended with a thud. A clear message emerged from the UN summit on climate change
[1] early in the week—now is the time to act. Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon, citing widespread calls for immediate and urgent action, stated
[2] that the meeting of more than 80 heads of states “succeeded beyond
our expectations.” In sharp contrast, the week ended with a
less-than-inspiring gathering of major greenhouse gas emitters in
Washington, where President George W. Bush wasted a golden opportunity
to move the process forward and propel the United States into a
leadership role on climate change. While the President’s rhetoric
[3] about the problem has evolved, his understanding of the urgency of
climate change and the form and scale of the response required clearly
have not changed.

Policies that Promote Solutions, Not Problems

Experience
has demonstrated that voluntary measures and “aspirational” goals do
not work; mandatory and binding commitments will be required to reduce
emissions in time to avoid warming of more than 2 degrees Celsius and
catastrophic climate change. It is critical to establish short- and
long-term limits on global emissions and national caps that put the
world on the path toward 50-percent reductions by mid-century.

The
technologies required for starting down this path are available now.
Renewable energy and energy efficiency options are ready to be scaled
up today and can meet rising needs for energy services while reducing
global emissions.[1] [3] Although research and development
funding for advanced technologies is important and can help in the
longer-term, it is even more critical to establish frameworks and
policies that promote solutions that can begin immediately to reduce
the world’s emissions. Key among these are mandatory emissions targets
that help to create markets by putting a price on carbon.

The
climate problem will not be solved one smokestack at a time. Rather,
the challenge is to create a new energy system that will not only
protect the climate but will be economically superior to the one in
place today. The European Union is already moving ahead in this
direction, with significant commitments for emissions reductions and
parallel increases in renewable energy and efficiency. What’s driving
this shift? EU leaders see it not only as necessary for reducing the
threat of climate change, but also as “an investment in [Europe’s]
economic future.”[2] [3] If saving the climate becomes a race
for who dominates one of the fastest growing sectors of the
21st-century economy, recalcitrance and delay will no longer be viewed
by climate negotiators as the keys to “success.”

A Climate of Progress?

Many of the world’s top greenhouse gas emitters are already taking key steps to address climate change. For example:

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In early 2007, all 27 members of the European Union agreed to a legally binding target to reduce their combined emissions 20 percent below 1990 levels
[4] by 2020. Aiming to set the pace for the rest of the world to
follow, they committed to a 30 percent reduction if other major
emitters joined them. The EU also agreed early this year that any new
fossil energy plants from 2020 onward must meet a net-zero carbon
standard, and increased renewable energy targets to 20 percent of total energy [5] by 2020.[3] [5]

Although it is currently far short [6] of achieving its Kyoto Protocol target, Japan is now determined to meet its reduction commitment
[7] by harnessing advanced technologies and traditional social systems.
The country has launched a national campaign, with the government
taking the lead, calling on all businesses and households to do their
part.

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Despite the government’s refusal to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, Australia has committed to meeting national targets
[8] under the treaty. Due in great part to rising popular pressure to
address climate change, Prime Minister John Howard has announced that
Australia will implement a domestic emissions cap-and-trade system [9] by 2012.

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China,
too, is starting to recognize the need to slow its rapidly rising GHG
emissions and address climate change. After two years of preparation,
the government unveiled its first national plan on climate change in
June, introducing guidelines and goals for improving energy
productivity and significantly increasing its share of energy derived
from renewable sources. This is the first plan of its kind made by any
developing country and represents a major step forward; however, much
remains to be done.

Because its primary concern is economic growth, the government of India
has thus far resisted any commitment to slow or reduce emissions
growth. But the political climate in India is beginning to change, and
there is a rising call for leadership on the issue. Perhaps in response
to such developments, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said [10] in June that unless people change their lifestyles “our future will be in peril,” and he has since called for a national action plan [11] on climate change.

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The
world’s top emitters have the ability to put the global energy system
on a new track and to drive forward the technology that can benefit the
world as a whole. Some of them have already begun this transition. A
global agreement under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
[12] (UNFCCC) is needed, but consensus on a joint plan of action among
all players in this smaller group of nations could provide the
leadership required in both North and South to make broader progress
possible. It’s too bad that the world missed an opportunity last week
to start down this road.